Behind the Book: Eddie Holland
Like I have my son to thank for making me a father, I have Eddie to thank for making me an author. I didn’t intend to start with a genre detective novel, it’s just what came first. I had ideas for many other books but it was Eddie that became something real.
At first it was the idea of a detective. But I live in the Washington DC suburbs and it didn’t feel right for the story I kept thinking about. Then a four-day weekend to Austin, Texas, gave me that essential element. From there, things picked up. I had my protagonist’s name and location and sketches of a plot.
Writing was sporadic at first. Okay. It was sporadic for years. Imposter syndrome is real. Who was I to write a book? But I kept going and the story developed further and the characters became real people to me. There were rewrites and chapters that were deleted, story ideas fleshed out then flushed away. I was a ‘pantser’ in writing terminology. I wrote by the seat of my pants, making everything up as I went instead of planning ahead. The story would stall then come to life again.
Eventually I had what I felt was a decent book. Maybe an okay book. But it was a book.
A friend edited it for me and another draft or two later it was as done as it could be. I have realized after ten books now that we are never really done writing them, we just have to stop at some point. I recently reread my novel Family Line, and though pleasantly surprised by what I’d created, also couldn’t stop thinking about things I would change or add.
So, that was it. My first book was done. I researched publishing and considered sending queries out to agents, but independent publishing was coming into its own and I liked the sound of it. I’m a designer by trade so creating the book wasn’t a challenge or an expense. I even made the cover photo with a local MMA coach as my cover model.
Release day was sloppy. Very sloppy. There were things I couldn’t know until I’d done them and I suffered for it, but eventually it was out and available pretty much wherever books could be ordered.
From early on I knew it would be a series. I have always been a big fan of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series and took great inspiration from him.
Ballyvaughan became the second in the series, and my second novel. It changed the narrative a bit by adding in an antagonist in Ireland and learning of his backstory and why he was intent on finding, and killing, Eddie. It gave me opportunity to read more about The Troubles between Ireland and Great Britain.
Hang Fire came next, but only after a couple of other books while I found my stride in breaking out of the genre. This is when I found that switching between genres helped my creativity. When sticking with the same character book after book it is easy to tire of them, even if you love them.
And finally Ruby Rising, a fairly direct continuation of Hang Fire. This one took a while thanks to the pandemic, losing my father, and a general malaise.
I don’t know where Eddie will go from here. I do know he’s on an extended vacation while I work on some other books. I’m sure I’ll return to him and Austin along with Gus and Eva and the rest of the gang, but for now I’m looking at more literary fiction and finishing my middle grade Ace Adler trilogy.